The Trials of Reid Garwin
by theysayhey
Summary: His brothers are everything to him, but now he has to keep things hidden from them. Can they save him before its too late? first fanfic, dont get mad. formerly known as 'no subject.'
1. Chapter 1

His father pulled Reid up the stairs by his ear, all the while muttering to himself. Reid thought about using to make him stop, but remembering why he was being dragged to his room in the first place, he tossed the idea aside. Flinching, he tried to concentrate on what his dad was saying, though he didn't catch much from the scuffling feet on the stairs.

"...using...floating...in this home...your mother's dinner!"

The last part was an outburst as Joseph reached his son's bedroom. Pushing Reid inside, he shut the door behind him. Reid stared back at him, confused. His father had never acted this way before.

"What were you thinking?!" Reid opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off. "Why am I even asking? You never think! You can never stop yourself!" His dad was mainly talking to himself, and Reid took this time to fight back. "Dad, come on. I was just playing around." His smirk dropped when his father marched up to him, finger pointed at Reid's chest.

"You've done enough 'playing around'," Joseph hissed. "You're becoming a disgrace to this family, the whole bloodline. Reid, if you keep Using, you're going to kill yourself or other people!"

Reid sighed. He got this from Caleb everyday, and he was tired of it. Now his father wanted to start? Alright, he could play with that.

"I'm not hurting anyone! So I floated around some meatloaf. Don't tell me you didn't hate that stuff, too."

His fathers eyes burned into Reid's blue ones. "Its not just the meatloaf, you idiot! You Use on everything! You have to stop floating things around and take the Power seriously, or you're going to get addicted."

Reid was fed up with the way his father was acting. He did not need to be treated like this; he was NOT addicted, and his father was going to learn that.

He put his arm back, planning on hitting his own father, and yelled,

"I am not-" but he was cut off when a blow hit his own cheek. Falling to the floor, he felt his father grab his collar.

"Do not talk back to me! I am your father and you respect me!" Reid saw his dad's eyes turn coal black and fear rushed through his body. His father had never hit him until then, what would he do now?

Joseph pulled Reid to his feet by his hair, only to throw him into the wall behind him.

Reid slumped to the floor. He couldn't move and his head hurt too much to think. He clamped his eyes shut, not wanting to see his father. This was his fault, he shouldn't have Used at dinner.

His father walked over to him and Reid could feel the Power thrumming through him. A hand grabbed his blond hair again and wrenched his head up.

"Look at me," came his father's voice. Reid knew he had to, but he didn't know if he could. Everything hurt too much.

"I said look at me!" his dad screamed at him making his head pound worse. Reid peeled open his eyelids, revealing his father's black eyes before him.

He his father to take his hands off, it just made everything worse with him yanking his hair. Trying to concentrate, he attempted to throw his father back as well. Joseph sensed his son trying to Use, and it only angered him more.

"Don't try to Use on me!" Reid was now shaking from fear and trying to think and concentrate to make his father stop. Normally, he couldn't stop himself from Using, but now he was too weak to try.

"You can't even do it. You're worthless!" Joseph was laughing at his panting son.

At these words, Reid sunk lower and lower into the floor, if that was possible. He suddenly felt a crushing pain on his chest as his father's Power surged through him. Reid didn't want to scream and give in to his dad; black spots were blinking in his eyes and he knew the darkness would come soon.

"Sleep well, my boy." Joseph smiled and lifted his Power. Reid struggled to take in air; it hurt to breath. His father shut the door behind him as he left, leaving a half conscious Reid slumped on the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Reid was woken up by bright sun on his face and he opened his eyes. He wished he hadn't, clamping them shut again, he felt as though his head was being split in two.

Putting a hand in front of his eyes to shield the light, he opened them again. Looking around, he found he was in the same spot he had fallen unconscious in. He slowly lifted himself to the feet, grabbing at the wall for support. Still leaning on the wall, he followed it out to the hall and into the bathroom.

Seeing his reflection in the mirror, he winced. Dark circles had formed under his eyes, and his pale skin made them look even darker. A shade of blue/purple marked a bruise on his far right cheek, mostly covered by his hair. It wasn't too bad. He could just say he didn't sleep well. The bruise was covered mostly so he hoped no one would notice.

Back in his room, he looked at the clock, knowing he was late. 9:28. Shit. That was all of first period. Going to class like this would be hell, but only a few more days until break so it would be worth it. A week and a half of no school, but also a week and a half of being forced to stay at him.

Shuffling through his closet, he found a white t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and threw on a jacket. A black beanie he found on the floor covered the rest of the bruise. This ensemble would have to do until he got to the dorms and found his uniform.

The house was silent walking to the kitchen. It was also spinning, but he tried not to pay attention to that. Grabbing his keys, he headed out to his car and left for campus.

Reid headed for class down the empty hallway. Getting dressed again had been a challenge, as nothing around him would stop moving.

Clutching his bag to him, he opened the door to his second period class, ignoring everyones stares. The teacher stopped, chalk raised in mid-lecture.

"Ah, Mr. Garwin. How nice of you to grace us with your presence.." His teacher waited for a snappy comeback, taking the tardy pass from the teen. Normally, Reid would have stated some cocky reason for whatever his mistake was, but he didn't feel up to it. Instead, he took his seat next Tyler, feeling the stares of the rest of the Covenant.

Tyler flashed him a confused yet sympathetic smile as he sat down. Before continuing his lesson, the teacher looked back at Reid. "Mr. Garwin; dress code," he said sternly.

Damn. No hats. Reluctantly, Reid pulled off the beanie. Even the small movement sent his head pounding again.

"Thank you," he looked at Tyler. "Mr. Simms will inform you of what you missed."

Tyler turned towards Reid as the rest of the class went back to their work. Reid could still feel Pogue and Caleb's stares burning at the back of his head.

"Jesus, you look like shit. Why are you late?" Reid's blank face stared back at Tyler's eyes.

"Slept in," he said quietly. Tyler looked at him. That was weird, even for Reid. His best friend seemed really out of it.

"So what'd I miss?" Reid asked trying to avoid questions about the states he was in.

"Oh yeah... mostly notes, some lecture last period even I didn't pay attention too..."

Reid tried to listen, but his mind kept drifting back to last night. His father couldn't have meant what he said... but the way he looked at Reid. And he had even Used on him. Reid started to doubt whether he himself would use again until he Ascended.

"Reid... Reid?" Tyler shook his shoulder and he jumped back from the contact. He swore he could feel his brain rattling around in his skull. Tears stung the back of his eyes and he tried to push them back.

"Come on, man. Class is over." Tyler was standing, gathering his things. Reid stood as well, but he bent slightly, gripping the table in pain as Caleb invaded his mind.

_'And where you this morning?"_

_'Home. I slept in.'_

_'Are you sure?'_

_'Fuck off, Caleb.' _He didn't need to lose consciousness because Caleb wanted to mess with him.

Looking back up, he found Tyler staring at him. Most of the room had cleared, but the Covenant remained.

"You okay?" Now Tyler was starting to get concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. Fine." Tyler didn't keep his eyes off him as the four boys left the room.

"Well Reid, are you up for Nicky's tonight," Pogue asked, walking down the hall, "or are we still tired from our morning escapade?"

The rest turned to face him, and Reid tried his best to hind his old attitude, the old Reid. "Hell no boys," he said with a smirk. "I'm up for it."

The others smiled at him. That was Reid.

Reid figured he was doing okay. He couldn't let them know about last night and he just had to keep this up a bit longer. But hie didn't know if he could go that long with out using.


	3. Chapter 3

His night at Nicky's had been pure hell. Reid had turned into anther version of Tyler; he hadn't picked any fights and hadn't even touched a drink. The worst part was having to constantly remind himself not to Use, but luckily no one noticed he was so focused on this all night. No one had noticed his bruised face either, as he had slipped the beanie back on after class. Most of the pain had subsided -or it had numbed- but nevertheless, he felt better. Back in the dorms with Tyler, as soon as he hit the bed, he was out like a light.

The next four days slipped by and Reid found himself becoming more and more reckless. He had to Use; he needed to Use. This longing feeling inside brought him to realization: his father was right. And so was Caleb. He was addicted and he deserved what his father had done to him. Caleb could sense Reid had not Used all week, and picked up on his fear on Thursday. He didn't want to believe it: bad ass Reid, scared. So he never brought up the subject to the blond.

Reid knew he had really screwed up when he found himself moving a pen off the teacher's desk. Realizing what he had done, he blinked, eyes returning to their normal blue. A wave of fear crashed through his body; he had really fucked up.

Caleb turned his head from his work to Reid, who was shaking in his seat.

_'What's with you?'_

_'Nothing, I'm fine.'_

_'Was that you? The pen?'_

_'...Yeah...Sorry, that was really stupid.'_

Caleb paused. Why was he apologizing? He usually couldn't care less.

_'You sure you're okay?' _he asked.

_'I'm fine. Just don't really wanna go home today.'_ Shit. Caleb was going to catch on now.

_'Why? Breaks not till tomorrow.'_

_'Gotta get some clothes and shit to the dorms for when we get back.'_ He didn't lie. Reid rarely showed his emotions, but he was not going to lie. Except for, of course, about Sunday night. Since he had already told his mother he'd be coming up to the house that afternoon, there was no going back.

Caleb was still worried, but he didn't say anything, and soon class ended for the day.

Reid pulled into his driveway, praying his dad wasn't there. It was pouring down rain and he just wanted to run in, grab his stuff, and leave. The weather would not strand him at home.

Pulling his hood over his head, he ran in his house, waved a hand at his mom, and raced upstairs. Grabbing his bag his mother had already packed for him, he ran back down stairs. Coming to the door, he slowed to a walk and he thought he was in the clear. Opening the front door revealing sheets of rain, he was proved wrong when a familiar fist connected with his head.


	4. Chapter 4

Rolling over on the wet ground, he spit coppery blood from his mouth. Before he knew what was happening, the kicks came. First to his side, as he was forced to roll over, then to his gut, and then they traveled to his already sore back.

Tears streamed down his face, though you couldn't tell in the rain, as his father grabbed his collar and screamed.

"I thought I told you before! Guess it wasn't clear enough for you and you just couldn't help yourself!" He slammed Reid's head into the hard dirt and the teen screamed for him to stop. "Maybe this time you'll learn your lesson!"

Reid felt the darkness coming, but as nice as it was, he couldn't let it. He had to save himself; blacking out here would be another mistake and he knew he shouldn't do it. Not outside.

He felt the Power rise up inside him, but it was immediately shut down. Why couldn't he Use?

"Ah-ah-ah. What did we just get done discussing? You're not Using on me or anything else!" His father was blocking his Power. This realization was the last thing he remembered when a final kick to his head shut him down completely.

By the time Reid woke up, it was already 11 pm. He sighed. 5 hours of pure darkness. He was thankful for it, but now the real pain started to kick in. Every time he took a breath, it felt like a thousand knives had become his ribs. Something had been broken. It stung as rain seeped into the open wound on his head. Once again, everything hurt, but he didn't know if he could move.

He didn't know if he _should_ move. Now he was truly scared. What if his father came back to get him? What if his father was right there next to him in the dark, watching his pathetic son bleed on the ground?

The worst feeling of all was the cold. It went through everypart of his body, numbing eveything but the pain. His body started to shake out of fear and frigidness. Rolling over to his hands and knees, he tried not to scream when everything in his chest shifted inside.

He couldn't do it. Even if he got up, his legs wouldn't support him. Part of him didn't want to believe his own father had done this, and the other part knew it was for his own good. His dad was saving him from death, be still felt hatred as he pictured his father mocking him, laughing, as he writhed in pain.

What about the Covenant? His brothers. He had lied to them, betrayed them. They didn't keep secrets from each other, and now he was afraid to even talk to them. Being near them made him want to Use, being at school when Aaron was being an asshole, or Nicky's when he played pool.

What scared Reid most was that his dad had blocked off his own Power. That meant he could have his way with Reid.

His body started convulsing, and more pain came with each powerful shake. He felt his body land back in the mud.

Ignoring his body's screams, he reached for his phone, which somehow wasn't damaged from the rain in his bag. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed help. Flipping the phone open, he called Tyler, the only one he could trust if he found out. He heard it ring and then, click.

"Hey man, where the hell are you?" Tyler's voice rang through his ears. He sounded tired. Reid smirked: Baby boy would be in bed by now.

"At home. Tyler-"

"Yeah, Caleb said you were going home for awhile. When you didn't come back, we thought you just crashed there." He wasn't going to make it easy was he. Reid needed to get it over with. "Tyler, listen, I need you- I need you to come pick me up." The request flew out of his mouth and he stumbled over his words. Tyler paused: this was new. "...Are you okay? What about your parents?"

"They're asleep and I don't want to bother them. My car totally just died on me. I just need you to come get me." Reid was tired. He was truly exhausted, but he was also tired of lying- especially to Tyler.

"Yeah... I'll be there as soon as I can." Click. Reid dropped the phone on the ground next to him.

Tyler knew Reid was worse off than he said, but he wasn't going to hold it against him. He figured he would tell him anything when he was ready. Right now, Reid just needed him.


	5. Chapter 5

For Reid, there was now the matter of getting up. He tried to keep his cool on the phone, or else Tyler would really get suspicious, but he knew he had failed.

Shuffling on the ground a bit, he came to his house's wall. How his mother had not heard his screams from just inside, he didn't know. He concentrated on gripping the bricks, and he was finally back on his knees. Climbing up further, he felt cuts on his side open wider and he bit his lip. When he was finally standing -which was ten minutes later- he slowly lifted up the edge of his sweatshirt.

Underneath, he found gashes of all sorts from his ribs down to his hips. Crimson blood ran down his pale skin. He didn't know he was hurt that bad. Bringing the cloth back down around him, he watched lights dance around in the raindrops, until he focused on the two that belonged to Tyler's hummer. Noticing he was still attatched to the wall, he moved out farther to stand on his own. As he brought up his hand to shield his eyes, he suddenly remembered waking up late that Monday for school.

"Holy shit Reid! What happened?"

Tyler ran through the rain, putting his own hood up. He knew Reid had lied on the phone, but he didn't know it was this bad. "You said you were fine!"

"I tripped and fell." He looked at the ground and saw Tyler's shoes approaching him.

"And rolled around in the mud, too." Reid didn't know why, but Tyler was scaring him. Would he hit him for lying?...No, Tyler wouldn't hurt him.

They started off, but Reid remembered he forgot something. "Ty, can you get my bag?" Tyler grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder. He watched Reid carefully as he hobbled slowly along and decided to help him out. He reached out to grab his arm to steady him, but Reid jerked away and almost fell backwards. Realizing Tyler was helping, Reid let him take his arm and he leaned into Tyler's shoulder as they walked.

Finally reaching the car, Tyler helped him up and practically had to push his ass in the seat. Reid was out of breath and still shaking as they took off. Tyler would talk to him later, but for now he was glad Reid was even asking for help.

He took in all of the teens appearance as they traveled back to campus. Blood was leaking through his sweatshirt and a deep purple bruise covered his cheek. He was soaked to the bone and everything -even him- was caked with mud. His blond hair had streaks of red from the cut on his head.

Reid drifted in and out of sleep. He knew he could trust Tyler, but he was uneasy about everything. He was still scared when they made it to the dorms and hour later, due to Tyler's slow driving not wanting to hurt Reid.

Before Reid had hardly grabbed the door handle, Tyler was on the passengers side, helping him down. They hurried inside, trying to be quiet for anyone sleeping.

Dragging himself up the stairs with Tyler, Reid felt his legs giving out on each step. He didn't know how much longer he could stand. Feeling Reid slip, Tyler grabbed him around the waist, pulling him up more. Reid clenched his eyes shut as Tyler's arm grazed fresh wounds on his back, and Tyler heard a barely audible gasp of pain come from him.

It was over. Reid knew it; Tyler knew something worse was wrong with Reid than just falling in the rain. And Reid knew Tyler would tell Pogue and Caleb as soon as he found out. But that was just it: Reid couldn't tell him. Not anyone. He was ashamed, and if they found out he had lied, it'd be even worse. You're not supposed to lie to your brothers.

What if Tyler wouldn't take no for an answer? What if he turned out just like his dad after all these years? Reid didn't know who to trust anymore.

"Your okay?" Tyler asked, opening the door to their room. Reid didn't know they were that far already.

"Yes, mother," he said sternly. He saw the hurt expression on Tyler's face and felt even guiltier. "Sorry," he mumbled. Sitting down on his untidy bed, Reid felt his ribs grind. Whimpering, he laid down, hoping it would help.

"Do you wanna shower?" Tyler sat on his bed across the room.

"No, I'll take one in the morning...too tired tonight." As he said the words, Reid felt a stirring in his chest. Knowing what it was happening, he grabbed the garbage pail next to him as the blood rushed up his throat and out his mouth.

Watching his best friend sputter, Tyler rushed over and patted his back gently, trying to help him breathe. Reid's coughing spell lasted a few minutes and blood spurted into the pail.

As Reid coiled back on the bed, the hem of his shirt rode up, leaving everything exposed. Tyler gasped at what he saw: bruises and red welts rose up on pale skin, and open gashes threatened to spill more blood. His astonishment soon turned to hurt and anger, knowing Reid had hid this from him. What else didn't he know?

"Boy, you're fucked up," he said quietly as Reid yanked down the shirt. "Let me help you." Tyler reached out for his hand, but Reid held it to his chest

"No! I'm fine. You'd be wasting your time." Reid wouldn't let other people hurt for him.

"Reid, come on. I don't want to know what happened, just let me help you." Before Reid could stop him, Tyler wrenched his hand away and held it in a death grip. As the Power surged through Tyler, Reid rolled on his side with his knees tucked under his chin. He couldn't stop Tyler, not now. Things seemed to get brighter as Tyler healed him. His chest lifted and he could breathe properly. Bones felt back in place and cuts slowly closed.

Before long, Tyler collapsed to his hands and knees on the floor, gasping for breath. Tears streamed down Reid's face and he let Tyler's hand slip away. This was his fault.

"I told you no, asshole," he managed to mumble.

"A simple thank you would have worked." Tyler chuckled to himself and pulled himself up on his own bed.

Reid was shaking, still freezing.

"Just change your clothes and get some sleep." Reid heard Tyler as he climbed under the blankets. He sat up and yanked off his sweatshirt. Standing, he felt lightheaded and dizzy, but he shrugged it off as effects of the healing. He still felt a few cuts and bruises, but who was he to complain? Tyler had already worn himself out. Throwing on a fresh dark blue shirt, Reid could feel dried blood and mud on anyplace on his body. He'd take care of it later and he threw on a pair of black pajama pants, crawling under his blankets.

After a few minutes, Reid could still fell himself shuddering, and wrapped another blanket around his body. It didn't help. With shaking hands, he pulled it tighter to him. That didn't do anything either.

Pulling both blankets off, he exposed his cold body to the even colder air. He stood on his shaking legs and walked over to Tyler's bed. "Tyler?" Reid shook his friend, who groaned and turned his head in return, but didn't wake up. "Tyler?" Reid asked.

"What?" Tyler snapped and Reid started back a few steps at the hostile voice. Tyler sighed, knowing what he had done. "What?" he asked again, more gently.

Reid stepped towards the bed again. "Ty, I'm cold," he said quietly. He didn't know what Tyler would do for him, if anything; he was just cold and felt miserable.

Tyler thought for a second, and then scooted over on his bed, patting the spot next to him. Reid got the idea, but hesitated. Would he be safe?

"Are you cold or not?" Tyler's voice cut through the darkness.

Reid climbed in next to him, pulling the covers over himself, feeling Tyler's warmth. Tyler almost jumped at feeling Reid's freezing cold skin, but instead laid down next to him and drifted off. It took Reid a bit longer, as he thought about the nights events and Tyler risking himself for him. But soon he also fell asleep, though it wasn't as peaceful as the teen next to him.


	6. Chapter 6

Tyler woke to a thud and a low groan coming from the floor. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, noticing the blankets were halfway off the bed. "Reid?"

He seemed to be talking to no one, until a hand raised over the edge of the bed and gripped the remaining blankets. Tyler would have laughed at his friend falling out of bed, but remembering the night before, his humor turned into concern. "Reid, you okay?" he asked.

Reid turned his head on the floor and sighed. God, he was tired of that question. Instead of answering, he gave Tyler the 'okay' sign with his hand on the bed. He slowly got up, again ignoring the lightheaded feeling. Gathering his clothes, he noticed he started swaying. Tyler saw this too, but ignored it as well, and Reid headed out to the showers.

Making sure no one else was with him, Reid stepped under the hot water. It felt good on his still freezing skin and it flowed off him pink and dirty. He knew he was sick. It could be anything from a cold to pneumonia, but he didn't care. Skipping school today would just raise more suspicion from his friends and he didn't need more questions.

When he was done, he threw on his uniform and headed back to his room. Tyler had already left. Reid found his bag from last night empty, on his bed. Shuffling through his drawers, he found everything the bag had contained, and his cell phone was on the bed with it. Tyler had taken care of it all. Guilt swept through him, along with nausea, and he grabbed his stuff for school.

He made it through first period without hardly any sneezing or sniffling. But he could hardly concentrate on whatever the lesson was, because he was a little preoccupied with not getting sick in the middle of class.

He walked with his brothers down the hall, trying to focus on what they were laughing about. They kept walking, as Reid stopped, leaning against a wall still swaying.

"Reid?" He heard Pogue's voice, but he couldn't zone in on it. "Hey Reid-" but Reid was already headed to the bathroom. There was no avoiding it this time.

His dizziness caught up with him and he gripped the sides of the stall. He heard footsteps behind him. Reid leaned, his stomach quaking, and dry heaved over the bowl. He tried breathing normal to get his stomach under control, but then everything came up. Having not eaten much in the past few days, it was mostly stomach acid.

"What is- oh, gross." Pogue turned away after watching Reid begin to throw up. Tyler was right behind Reid, in the stall, and Caleb was behind him.

"Reid, its okay," Tyler whispered. He didn't know what to say to someone puking, but there was nothing else to do.

Reid knew it was not okay, and he continued to empty his stomach. The sounds of his retching rang through the stall and he felt Caleb's hand rubbing his back. Reid wouldn't have been surprised if he had thrown up his whole stomach before he actually stopped, and he fell to the floor panting.

"Reid?" He barely hear Caleb's voice calling to him as he let himself drift into the darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

"One hundred and two! What was he doing?" Caleb stared at the thermometer in disbelief.

"Well...It's Reid. Why would he tell us if he was sick?" Pogue's voice was quiet. For once, he didn't think Caleb needed to get so upset over Reid's acting out. He was just sick.

"He was out in the rain late last night." Tyler's voice was also quiet, but it wasn't new for him. He didn't know if Reid would really want them to know, but they had a right to.

Caleb sighed. "Are you sure he didn't get into a fight?" Tyler was aware his friends had found the remnants of the night before on Reid, and he wished he'd healed him better.

"Yes. At least, not that I know of." Tyler was as in the dark as the rest of them.

"Then what's all this?" Pogue raised his hands, gesturing to Reid. He was becoming frustrated as well.

"I told you before, I don't know!" He had tried to explain to them that he had picked up Reid, and then came back to school -leaving out certain details that he hoped Reid would fill in himself.

"Well, there's obviously something missing in the story!" Caleb glared at Tyler.

"Tyler, have you noticed anything weird about him lately?" Pogue asked, trying to ignore Caleb's harshness.

"Like what?" Tyler was beating around the bush; he didn't want to betray Reid.

"I don't know! Anything! You live with him, you have to notice something." Tyler's eyes shifted around his room to the bed where Reid lay. What could he say?

"He hasn't been Using much," Caleb said, racking his brain for something.

"Yeah, that's pretty weird," Pogue and Tyler said in unison. Reid Garwin didn't _not_ Use.

"Why wouldn't he be Using?" Pogue asked.

"He knows he addicted," Caleb said, almost a little smugly.

"But he's not addicted...Is he?" Tyler looked at Pogue, who shrugged.

"I don't know." Caleb sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"This is getting us nowhere." Pogue sat down on Tyler's bed and sighed.

"Well, do you have any suggestions?" Caleb yelled, anger in his eyes. Tyler kept thinking for anything to say that Reid wouldn't disown him for. That week had gone fast until the night before, and Tyler hadn't noticed anything except that Reid seemed tired. Now would be a great time for him to wake up.

Tyler came out of his thoughts to more yelling going across the room. Reid was putting everyone on edge.

"-not my fault!" Pogue was yelling at Caleb.

"No one said it was! I just want to know what's going on! And you-"

"Will you shut up!" The older teens stared at Tyler, shocked. Had he just yelled at them?

Reid felt his head pounding. Who was making all that noise? He heard Tyler telling someone to shut up, and then... silence. Thank God. Now, what had happened. He remembered being sick in the bathroom, and then what? Shit. Moving around, he felt the sheets and blankets of his own bed back in the dorms. The people yelling had to have been Pogue and Caleb; he knew those voices.

Now he didn't want to get up. They'd ask questions. They were already mad. But it was so hot. Reid tried to swallow, but found his mouth was too dry. Just perfect. He felt his breathing quicken; it was way too hot.

"Reid?" A voice was calling out to him. Who was that? His fever was catching up with his head and he wanted to sleep again. "Reid?" The voice came again. Oh, Caleb...duh. There was no use in sleeping now.

"Mmm," he managed to croak out. Reid heard sighs of relief from around him and the weight on his bed shifted.

"Reid, open your eyes." Caleb's voice seemed closer and Reid realized he had sat down next to him. He shook his head no; he was too tired.

"Come on, Reid." Caleb sounded calm, instead of mad as Reid had heard before. "We want to talk to you."

Reid sighed. Couldn't they see he wasn't up to it?  
"Don't want to," he said weakly.

"Are you hungry?" The sound of food made Reid's stomach churn. He shook his head no again.

"How are you feeling?" Caleb asked, his voice concerned.

Reid turned to him and finally opened his eyes.

"Not good." He knew he sounded like a child, but he was being truthful.

"Well, you kinda shut down the boys bathroom on the other side of school," Pogue said, but his humor did not help.

Reid looked around. Were they just going to stand there and stare at him? Pulling his blanket off him, he tried to sit up, but a thousand hands were pushing him back down, leaving him dizzy and out of breath.

"You should just rest," Tyler said to him. Reid shifted in his bed, it was just too hot. His white shirt was soaked with sweat, and he was thankful they had left him in his boxers. With his friends staring at him as if they were waiting for something to happen, he decided there was nothing better to do than sleep.

_'Reid sat up and threw the blankets off him. He felt better... no, great. Like he wasn't even sick anymore. He rubbed his eyes to wake up a bit more, and realized he was in his own room. His own room at home. The blond jumped up, overjoyed. If there was one thing Reid Garwin hated, it was being sick. You sit in bed all day and do nothing, when there were so many other things to do. Running out of his room and down the stairs, he found his mother in the kitchen. She heard him coming down and turned to look at him._

_"Oh, Reid, you're up." She put her hands on his forehead, seeing if he was warm. "How are you feeling?"_

_Reid's face broke into a grin. "Better," he said._

_She cupped her son's face. "Good... oh, why don't you sit down and wait for your father? He said he wanted to talk to you when he got home." Reid's happy face went slack and his eyes grew wide. He knew his father wouldn't want to just 'talk', but Reid obliged and walked to the living room to wait._

_Walking through the door, Reid's fear escalated. There, sitting on the couch, were the rest of the Covenant. All three in a row, just sitting, as if Reid had invited them over. But they were so strange: Tyler was sopping wet, in all his clothes; Caleb was holding a thermometer and looking at if wishing the numbers would change; Pogue was sitting there, with the most nauseas look Reid had ever seen._

_"Oh, hey Reid," Caleb said cheerfully, looking up from his thermometer._

_"C-Caleb, what are you guys doing here?" Reid asked._

_"Your dad's coming home to see you. We thought we'd stay and watch," Tyler said, and he wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. "Is anyone else freezing?"_

_Reid didn't pay any attention to his friend's question and asked, "What do you mean? You guys can't be here." Stay and watch what?_

_"Don't sound so confused, Reid. You've go a big punishment coming and we don't want to miss it." Caleb turned back to the thermometer in his hands._

_"How do you know what he's going to do?" Reid was desperate, what the hell was going on?  
"It's kind of obvious, Reid. You've fucked up a whole lot this past week," Tyler said firmly. "Speaking of which, if-"_

_"Can someone make the room stop moving?" Pogue spoke up, or rather yelled at everyone in the room._

_" -if I catch a cold from standing in the rain with you, I'm sure I can arrange something with your dad," Tyler finished, ignoring Pogue's outburst._

_Reid stared at his friend in shock. Did he really mean it?_

_"Man, watching you puke did _not_ help my day," Pogue said, looking up at him._

_Reid continued to stare in disbelief, until he heard the front door shut and talking in the kitchen._

_"Just the man we've been waiting for," Caleb said, putting down the thermometer and all three stood up._

_"Oh, hello boys," Joseph said, walking in the room. "Come to watch the fun?" They nodded._

_His dad put his hand on Reid's shoulder affectionately._

_"How are you, my boy?" Reid was still processing the information being thrown at him, and suddenly couldn't find the words to speak. "I heard you had a tough week." _

_Joseph's eyes turned black, and Reid fell to his knees as his father's power crashed down on him. He looked up, panting, and found his brothers laughing at him._

_He pulled himself up, but it wasn't long before his dad kicked his knees in, and they buckled underneath him again. A blow came to the side of his head, and then another, and another. He collapsed to the floor, calling to his friends._

_"Make him stop, please!"_

_"Reid, you know you deserve it! You can't fight it!" Tyler's voice rang through the air as Reid was pulled back to his feet by his hair._

_"Mind if I try, Mr. Garwin?" That was Caleb. Reid sucked in a breath, waiting for the answer. Caleb wasn't going to hit him, was he?_

_"Why not? I can't have all the glory." Reid had enough time to gape at his father before he was thrown to the wall behind him._

_He cried out a little at the impact, but inside, his head was screaming. Slumping down the wall, he saw Caleb running at him. He closed his eyes, deciding he couldn't look at Caleb's face._

_A shoe came to the side of his mouth and Reid fell over, spitting out blood. Another kick came to his head and another to his stomach. Caleb wouldn't stop._

_"Pogue, help me! Please, tell him to stop!" Reid was screaming as his head was banged into the wall, but he could still hear the uproar of laughter. "Tyler, please, help me!"_

_"Here that boys? He's begging for you!" Reid's father laughed to himself as Pogue and Tyler ran over to join Caleb. He saw Tyler's fist coming right at him and -'_

Reid's scream erupted through the house as he bolted up in bed. He sat there a second, panting, and his heart sand when he heard footsteps outside the door of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

The room was pitch black, and Reid didn't have the time to adjust to the light before the door flew open. He backed into the wall, hands flung out, ready to protect himself. Hands closed around his wrists, though he couldn't see anyone in front of him. Reid continued to fight without his hands, using his feet to kick. This didn't help much, as all he could kick at was the mass of blankets on top of him. The grip on his wrists tightened, and he let out a whimper that turned into a scream as the lamp next to him turned on.

"Reid, calm down!" He heard Caleb's voice in front of him and his screams became louder as he remembered the dream. Suddenly he kicked out one last time and actually connected with Caleb's knee, which gave out beneath him and sent both of them to the floor.

Reid's arms were let go as he fell face first forward off the bed onto the cold floor. His head was spinning as a dizzy spell hit him and he heard Caleb shifting next to him. He felt his shoulders being lifted as Caleb rested him against the bed.

Caleb saw Reid's eyes shifting around the room, and he wondered if he knew where he was. He knelt in front of him, watching him try to catch his breath, and he then took Reid's face in his hands to try to get a response. "Reid?"

Reid eyes searched the room before they fell on Caleb in front of him. He felt Caleb's hands and knew this was the real Caleb; the safe Caleb. His own hands assumed the same position as Caleb's before he tried to realized what had just happened and breathed, "Caleb."

"You're okay now, Reid," Caleb said gently.

"Why are you wet?" His friend had just noticed water dripping off Caleb, and drew back remembering Tyler coming at him. Caleb watched Reid coil back and sat against the bed next to him.

"It's raining again. I was outside seeing Pogue and Tyler off," he said watching Reid stare blankly around the room. "You're at my house now. Don't you remember being moved?"

Reid shook his head no.

"Oh...well, you were awake for awhile. You still have a high fever so you-"

"What time is it?"

Caleb was taken aback for a second, but then looked at his watch.

"Almost 2:30 in the morning. Like I said, Pogue and Ty just left. They were going to stay but I said they needed the rest. When I came back in, I tried to hurry up here when you started yelling, but then you started shaking the house."

"I'm sorry," Reid apologized quickly.

"It's fine. It was just a bad dream, Reid."

Reid sighed, ashamed. He had Used while sleeping.

"I'm sorry, Caleb," he whispered.

"Reid it's okay. You didn't mean to, you were dreaming," Caleb said, trying to convince him. Reid just nodded and sniffed, avoiding Caleb gaze.

This was completely new for Caleb, and for Reid. Reid Garwin didn't have nightmares. Tyler had nightmares, and that was ten years ago. Caleb almost smiled as he remembered nights when Reid would wake up with the others, holding Tyler and telling him he was okay. Reid had been the wall, the tough guy of the brothers. He didn't let emotions show and he didn't let things get to him. Caleb wondered what had happened to Reid to make him change so quickly. Something wasn't right, but for some reason, Caleb couldn't convince himself something was wrong.

"C-Caleb... I need... I-Can you-" Reid was trying to form sentences as he interrupted Caleb's thoughts. Caleb turned to his friend and, even though his eyes were glazed with fever, he could tell he was desperate. He quickly grabbed the bucket he had put next to the bed for Reid and handed it to him just in time. As Reid retched, Caleb realized he had nearly forgotten Reid was actually sick.

Reid leaned back on the bed, panting, and tried to swallow.

"Thirsty?" Caleb asked.

Reid nodded as Caleb jumped and got him a glass of water. His friend sat next to him again and watched him gulp the liquid down. Caleb took the glass from him and smiled. "More?" he asked.

Reid shook his head no, not knowing what his stomach could handle. They sat for a few more minutes, and Reid felt himself nodding off. He suddenly jumped when he felt Caleb's hand on his shoulder shaking him, saying, "You should get some sleep."

Both teens got up and Reid laid down under the covers again. Caleb made it to the door before Reid called to him. "Caleb?"

He turned around to face the blond. "Yeah, Reid?"

"Can you sleep in here tonight in case I have another dream?"

The question tugged on Caleb's heart and reminded him again of Reid's change. "Yeah, I'll be right back."

Reid nodded. Caleb grabbed some blankets and pillows out of his room and made a bed on the floor next to Reid. Before long, both of them were asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Just to let you guys know, all of the italics in this chapter are Tyler's memories, not anyone talking to him in his head...just wanted to clear that up. A few more chapters, and I'm _still_ working on getting Pogue some action, probably next chapter.

Anyways, here's the next chapter:

_'Ty, tell him to stop.'_

Reid's voice pounded through Tyler's head for the hundredth time since he'd first heard it a few hours ago. He sat straight up in bed, tapping his foot frustratingly. Only a few moments ago he had slammed the brakes on his hummer and ran into the room, throwing his wet bag and jacket on the floor.

_"Tyler, you should head back. It's getting late."_

_"But Caleb, he-"_

_"He'll be fine. Don't worry about him, I'll take care of him. Just go back to the dorms with Pogue."_

And he had listened to Caleb. He went back and he left Reid. But he didn't miss the screams. Those horrifying shrieks he never wanted to hear from his best friend again. He watched Caleb dash inside the house when he got in the car and Pogue had left. Pogue hadn't heard them, nor had he seen Caleb's terrified expression just before he left. But Tyler didn't miss any of it, just like he hadn't missed what Reid had said back at the school.

_'Ty, tell him to stop.'_

Tyler had almost not heard it as they carried Reid to the car, and had to stop to figure out what the blond was saying.

_"Tyler, hurry up and open the door!"_

_"S-Sorry, Pogue."_

Reid had a fever. He didn't know what he was saying. Maybe Tyler hadn't heard right. Either way, it didn't make Tyler feel right trying to convince himself.

_"Where are we going?"  
"We're taking you home, Reid," Caleb said as he and Pogue each grabbed one of the blond's arms and carried him over their shoulders._

_"I can't"_

_"What do you mean you can't?" Pogue asked._

_"My parents are going out tonight. Wouldn't want to spoil their evening. I already told them I probably wasn't going to go home tonight anyway." Reid lifted his head and smirked at his joke and quick lying._

_The other three looked back, confused for a moment, before Caleb said, "Fine. My place."  
_It was bullshit and they all knew it. Tyler didn't say anything because he knew he could talk to Reid and get it out of him one way or another. Maybe Caleb and Pogue didn't say anything because they didn't want to deal with an angry sick Reid. It seemed like they had all made a silent agreement that things weren't right. The problem was, none of them wanted to believe it.

Tyler suddenly felt too frustrated to sit anymore, and jumped up to change his wet clothes. He barely paid attention to the task at hand as he thought of why Reid would lie about his parents. He obviously didn't want to go home. Then again, Reid did always prefer anywhere else over his own house, saying things felt too empty there after he had opened up to Tyler one night at Nicky's. Reid spent most of his time at school, the dorms, or Nicky's.

None of that really said anything about why he would lie. Tyler was closest to Reid; he told him everything. They were brothers, and brothers didn't lie to eachother.

_"Ty, get in the back and help pull him up."_

_Tyler blinked a few times, regaining his posture, and slid in the back of the hummer._

_"No, Reid. Keep up for a bit longer," Pogue said and his friend lifted his head up. For the past five minutes he'd been carrying less and less of his own weight and occasionally lolling his head to the side._

_Caleb and Tyler carefully slid Reid in the back next to his brother and Pogue started the engine. Soon, they were headed off campus, Tyler watching Reid as he muttered things and rested his forehead on the cool window. They took a sharp turn resulting in Reid carelessly falling into Tyler and the brunette hit the door with a small -oof._

_Reid, instead of moving back like he usually would, seemed too exhausted to move and stayed leaning on Tyler's shoulder._

_"Reid?" Tyler asked his friend._

_"Ty, tell him to stop."_

_There it was again. The alarming whisper no one else heard that made Tyler shiver._

_"You guys okay?" Caleb asked, looking back at them. _

_"Fine," Tyler managed to say._

Tyler finished dressing before he heard his phone ring from his nightstand. He picked it up and read the number: it was Reid's house.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Tyler, its Meredith. Have you seen Reid tonight?"  
"Um...he's at Caleb's."  
"Oh, thank goodness. We thought he went to Nicky's, but he didn't come home and we started getting worried. Thank you, Tyler."

"No problem. But I thought he told you he wasn't coming home tonight because you and Mr. Garwin had a date."  
"Well, we didn't go out tonight. I don't know where he got that from."  
"He probably just got confused. Anyway, I have to do some more studying, Mrs. Garwin."

"Of course, Tyler. Goodnight."

The conversation ended and Tyler realized just how easy it was to lie. Without wasting any time, he gathered up his bag and phone and put on a new sweatshirt. He was going to Caleb's to speak with Reid.

**A/N:** I think this is one of my favorite chapters. I would have updated sooner but I had a science project on sound and there was a big presentation and my plan for this chapter changed. Thanksgiving break is a day away so I should be writing more. Now review!


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **WOW. Yeah, hold the shocked stares for a second; I know I haven't updated in MONTHS. And I really don't have a reasonable excuse, except I crossed paths with an unmotivated muse and nearly drowned in my own laziness. So, here I am again. BIG thanks to **Susangel**, 'cause she pulled me out of a big empty hole called my mind a few weeks back.

In other news, did y'all hear? Yessir, Jared Padalecki and Sandy McCoy are officially engaged, so applause, applause for the almost married.

So, enjoy, 'cause I don't know how much more of this story I'll be writing.

* * *

"What'd he say?" The light from the old lamp on the table illuminated his wife's hair, giving it more yellow in the color, and drowning out the white-blond.

"He's at Caleb's." She took a second as he leaned in the doorway, gathering her thoughts. "Did he say anything about staying out tonight?"

"Not that I remember. But it's our son; he's been known to do things like this in the past." He gave a small huff of amusement. Meredith looked up at him from her chair, her brow crinkled as she still sat thinking. "What? What else did Tyler say?"

"He said that Reid told them we were going out tonight. So he told us he wouldn't be coming home." If it hadn't been so dark in that part of the mansion, if the lamp's light had been a little bit brighter, she would have seen her husband's face turn to rage. But she didn't.

"Huh... Well, we'll talk to him about it tomorrow. We need to get some sleep to, Meredith." He watched her stand, old chair creaking, shadows lining her face. "Like I said, its not like Reid hasn't snuck out or lied to us before. We know how to deal with him." Its not like anyone in this house hasn't lied before.

"Yeah, we'll talk tomorrow. Come up to bed when you're done down here." She yawned and headed down the hall to the stairs.

Joseph's eyes followed her, making sure he heard the master bedroom door shut, and turned down the other hall to the front doors.

* * *

_Ding dong._

_Ding dong._

_Ding dong ding dong ding dong._

Well, that was enough to wake anyone up. That, and another bout of Reid's retching in a garbage can eight inches from your head.

_Ding dong._

_Ding do-_

"Caleb?" Reid's voice was rougher and deeper than when he'd heard it before he'd gone to sleep. "You gonna get that?"

For a second, he only replied in a low groan. But then he felt a real response was needed. "Yeah. I'll be back in a second. Don't go anywhere." Except, he didn't have to worry, because Reid was once again getting acquainted with the bottom of the can.

_Ding dong._

_Ding dong ding dong ding dong di-_

"What?" He threw open the door, the arm he had slept one _really _disagreeing with him.

"_What_? Could you be any slower?" Oh. Tyler. Wait-

"Could I be any slow- What? What are you doing here? You probably woke my mother up!" he hissed through his teeth. It was still raining out, but he really wasn't in the mood for bringing a wet Tyler who had just interrupted his sleep inside for a chat.

"I need to talk to Reid." Yes, because that was a logical thing to do at three in the morning.

"Tyler, I told you to go back to the dorms. He's fine here."

"No, Caleb, just let me talk to him."

"_No, _Tyler. He's sick, it late, and-"

"I don't care, just let me talk to him!" He's not going to do it, no, he wouldn't dare- oh, he would.

"Okay, don't you pull the 'I'm the youngest, fulfill my requests' look. Its not gonna work. Why do you need to talk to him right now, anyway?"

"I just need to talk to him. I was at the dorms and-- Can I come in? Its getting kind of cold out here."

Caleb sighed. The look was so working.

* * *

"Now, what were you saying about the dorms?" They were sitting at the kitchen, sitting across from each other, staring into the tired eyes of one another.

"I talked to Meredith. Back at our room."

"You what?"

"She called me asking for Reid. She said he was supposed to come home, but he hadn't, so they were getting worried." Caleb stared back at Tyler as he emphasized every word, trying to get the point across.

"I thought Reid said they were going out tonight."

"He lied. Meredith and Joseph are both home. She said she had no idea where he got that." Caleb sighed and leaned back in his chair. Tyler mimicked the action, except leaning forward, across the table. "Something's up, Caleb."

He looked up when his Brother stopped talking, meeting Tyler's gaze. "Like what? Reid lies all the time. He's just puking while he does it this time."

"Not to me, he doesn't." Tyler's blue-eyed gaze stared back at him intently.

Caleb leaned forward, back in his original position. "Do you have any idea what's going on? I mean, yeah, he's been acting weird this week, but..."

"No. He hasn't said anything about it to me."

"Can we cut the lying, Ty? You were with him the night before he got sick." He watched Tyler's eyes shift away for a second, to somewhere over his shoulder, before returning to Caleb's. "Come to think of it, you guys are _always _together." He said it like it hadn't been that way all their lives, and gave Tyler an mock expectant look.

"Can we cut the sarcasm, _Caleb_? I'm just saying, something's not right. He was pretty beat up when I found him at--" Tyler clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes going wide like a kid who just told _everybody _about the surprise party. Come to think of it, he had done that before...

"Thank you! You've always had that problem with lying to your Brothers, Tyler." He was rewarded with a cold glare for his quiet victory shout. "Just tell me what happened that night."

He listened to the story, trying to take it all in, pay attention, and still keep Tyler on track, because the kid could have told you about every drop of rain out there, he was just that big on details and that easily distracted.

"Do you know if he was in a fight before then?" he asked when it was all over.

"Don't think so. We all saw him at school before he left for home. Besides, a fights never worth it to him if he has to go home to his mother just after." They both left out a huff of laughter.

"That woman coddles him too much." He tried to meet Tyler's gaze again, but it was once again held somewhere over his shoulder. "Ty, I'm worried, too, but we need to wait for Reid. Or at least until he can get a sentence out without his stomach coming up too."

"I know. I just..."

"Yeah."

"If something was wrong, he'd tell us, right? That's what we've always done."

"Yeah... Well, I mean, he'd tell you, at least." He smirked. "The you'd just blurt it out to Pogue and I later."

"That's not funny," his Brother said, even though he was grinning. Tyler paused for a second. "Can I at least see him? I know he's okay here, I just wanna check up on him, you know?"

Caleb knew. "Yeah. Just no talking, okay? He's probably not coherent enough for a police investigation from his best friend."

They headed up the stairs, soft breathes floating through the door to his mother's room told Caleb she was indeed asleep. He led the way down the hall a bit farther to Reid's room and opened the door.

"What?..." Caleb's makeshift bed was still on the floor a few feet from the door, exactly as he'd left it. But Reid's bed seemed almost stripped, sheets hanging off the sides and blankets on the floor on the opposite side of the bed. The opposite side where Reid had gotten out... where the window was wide open, rain pounding in the opening, soaking everything in its path.

Caleb heard Tyler give a small gasp as they headed to window, stepping over the wet bedspread and floor.

"Caleb." They were staring down, their heads poking outside, the dark ground looking right back.

"Yeah, Ty." He turned his head, trying to get different angles to see the yard below. Nothing. "Reid!" Heavy rain answered his call. "Reid!"

"Caleb, he's gone."

"Yeah." He stepped back in the room, wiping a hand down his wet face, Tyler's wide eyes staring back through the dark.

"Caleb, we--"

"Here." He gave Tyler his cell phone from the nightstand, already stepping over the mess on the floor to the stairs again. "Call Pogue. We all need to talk, and, and we need to look for Reid. Do you know where he would've gone?" He turned to Tyler before they headed out the front door.

"Caleb, he's sick! He shouldn't have been going anywhere!"

"I know that! We just need to--"

"Can we talk about this somewhere else? Like in the car, _looking_?"

Caleb huffed. He just needed to calm down... Reid was there a few minutes ago, he couldn't have gone far. Well, he could've, because Caleb was trying to stop Tyler from barging in the room and trying to get him to talk the whole time, so he could've just ran right then and--

"Caleb! Move your ass!" Tyler was hanging up the phone without a goodbye to Pogue. How long had he been freaking out? "Hey! Caleb, he's out there right now!"

"Yeah, I know!" They headed out to his car, Tyler was telling him something about meeting up with Pogue later, but Caleb was trying to tone down the blood pounding in his ears.

"Caleb?" They were almost out of the driveway, getting ready to floor it down the road.

"What?" he asked, turning onto the street. Tyler slammed back slightly in the seat with an "oomph".

"Do youstillthink Reid would tell us if something was up?"

Caleb turned his head, once again meeting his Brother's bright gaze. "We all lie sometimes."

* * *

**A/N: **Okay... so, I don't know about this one. I kind of had less actual content, it seemed like to me. It went from Tyler freaking out and Caleb calm, to total opposite. Tell me what you think, reviews are love!


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **So new chapter right before I go back to school in like a day. I've haven't been updating a lot, I know, its only been every few months, but I think I'll try to speed things up since there's not many more chapters left, but I can't keep any promises once I start high school.

Enjoy, and tell me what you think!

* * *

When he heard the front doors slam open, Caleb looked up from the bench he was sitting on.

"Anything?" he asked as Tyler walked towards him.

"No. No one on the second floor has seen or heard anything from Reid since that day in school." Tyler's shoulders slumped. "What about you?"

"Same thing on the first floor. Where do you-"

Caleb's phone rang and Tyler dug it out of his pocket, looked at the caller id.

"It's Pogue."

"Maybe he knows something." Caleb looked up hopefully as Tyler answered.

"Yeah... No, we checked the dorms, there's nothing. You?" Tyler huffed out a laugh. "You sure? That's not exactly- Yeah, we should... Okay, we'll meet you there." He closed the phone, looked down at Caleb.

"He checked Nicky's. Nothing there either."

"Damn," Caleb muttered.

"He's heading up to Reid's house." Caleb looked at Tyler doubtfully. "Yeah, I know, Caleb, odds are he'd go there last, but we gotta check. It's the closest to your house than anywhere else we've checked. Let's go meet up there."

"Fine, but we all know he doesn't like going home much. Let's go." Caleb started for the car, but Tyler didn't follow.

"Ty, what?" Caleb turned back around; it was dark and he could hardly see Tyler in the soft dorm lights.

"Well, just. Shouldn't we tell someone about this?" Caleb heard the distress in his younger Brother's voice.

"What, like police? Tyler, Reid's really out of it right now. If we get a whole search party out here, who knows what he'll do in front of all those people."

Caleb almost made it to the car again before Tyler's shaky voice called out again.

"What about his parents?"

Caleb sighed. "I guess we're gonna have to let them know. We can't go sneaking around their house, even if they'll be pissed as hell at Reid."

"Do you think they'll be that mad at him? He's really sick, it's not like he ran away for the hell of it."

Caleb gave a frustrated sigh again. "I don't know. We'll deal with it when we get there. Let's go, it's already late enough." He opened the car door as Tyler went to do the same.

"When we find him and get this all straightened out, I'm gonna sleep for a day." His face suddenly turned almost pained. "And I was gonna study tomorrow for when school started again."

Caleb stared at him over the top of the car. "Tyler. Get in the car."

* * *

"Oh my God, you're a mess," Joseph hissed at his son as Reid finished emptying his stomach once again into the toilet. He leaned back against the doorway and watched Reid on his knees in front of the bowl. "You were out in the rain for a few hours, 'course you'd get sick. So fucking weak."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Reid started muttering apologies again for what seemed like the tenth time since his father had dragged him out of Caleb's house and back home.

He heard the familiar crunch of tires in the driveway as he started heaving into the bowl again.

"Shit, shit, shit." Someone was muttering, had to be his father, but he couldn't hear anything over the rush in his ears.

"Come on finish up, let's go." Joseph was suddenly right behind him, a hand on his back pushing. "Damn it, I thought they'd be slower than this."

As soon as Reid finished his father hauled him up, just as the _bang bang bang_'s started coming from the front door.

"Come on, boy. Get your damn feet under you." Joseph was pushing, pushing, forcing him out of the bathroom in the opposite direction of the voices outside, cold hands on Reid's fever hot skin.

"Mr. and Mrs. Garwin! We need to talk to you!"

Reid stopped, wanted to pull away from his father's hold, but he didn't know how long he could stay up. "Hey, that's Cal-"

"Go! Or I'll pick you up and throw you outside!" The hands on his arms tightened, started squeezing tight, and Reid felt like he wasn't really on the same page as everyone else.

"Wait, what? Outside?.."

"That's it!" Fingers on his shoulders, his upper arms, hauling him over something bigger, his dad's shoulder, and he was hanging upside down. _So _not a good feeling for his stomach.

He saw flashes of the tiled floor of the kitchen, and then he was being flung backwards, out the back door, into the cold again.

"I'll deal with you later, after I deal with them."

He looked up at his father's sneering face before the door slammed shut and he heard Joseph's retreating foot steps.

He knew Caleb was around; he'd been banging on the door. If he found Caleb, maybe they could go back to his house.

He waited for his stomach to stop thinking it would come up his throat anytime soon and laid on the cold ground. The wet leaves started to feel good on his hot skin, but he needed to move, needed to try and find Caleb.

So Reid started crawling.

* * *

"Boys? What is it, what's wrong?" He threw the door open, looked down at the faces of Caleb, Tyler, and Pogue.

"Mr. Garwin, we can't find Reid." He saw the fear in their eyes, and shame, and fought back a laugh. He had to act serious for his plan to work.

"What do you mean? He's gone?" Joseph felt his eyes go wide, his mouth slack, faking surprise.

"He was at my house. I-I was downstairs with Tyler and when we went back upstairs to check on him he was gone." Joseph could tell Caleb felt the most embarrassed.

"He was really sick, Mr. Garwin," Tyler's small voice came to his ears, and he really wanted to laugh now. They were _so worried_ about Reid.

"Where have you looked?" He ran inside and left the boys in the open doorway, mocking his frenzy, grabbing his coat and throwing it on. "Have you been anywhere besides here? How long has he been gone?"

"We went to the dorms, Nicky's. No one's seen him."

"He's been gone for about an hour now," Pogue finally spoke up.

"We thought we'd come here to see if he was around or if he came home," Caleb said.

"Alright, we should poke around the house, see if he's around the neighbor's, any nearby streets." Three heads nodded at him as he started down the steps to the driveway. "Let's split up, cover more ground."

They all came to a stand still in front of the house. "Pogue and Tyler, you guys look around any of these houses." He waved his hand at the general area. "Caleb, you can try the roads, but don't go too far with out one of us. I'm gonna check around here and anywhere else. But you guys have to be quiet if you can, its late, and everyone's sleeping.

"Let's go." Pogue clapped Tyler on the shoulder and they took off to the tree line bordering the side of the house and fencing off the neighbors. Caleb nodded at him, started down the driveway to the front gates.

Joseph headed for the back of the house.

* * *

**A/N: **Kinda short, but I'm thinking it's okay. Let me know what you think!


End file.
